I call upon you then, dear friends, as resident aliens and transients in this world to refrain from carnal desires, which take up arms against the soul. And keep your behavior among the heathens good, so that, whereas they now speak against you as evildoers, they may learn from your good works and glorify God on the Day of Visitation.
Be obedient to all human authority for the sake of the Lord; to a king, as one who is above you; to governors, because they are sent by him to punish the evildoers and to praise the doers of good; since this is the will of God, that by doing right you should suppress the unwisdom of thoughtless men; as free men, having your freedom not as a covering up of baseness, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the King.
Servants should be obedient with all respect to their masters, not only when they are good and kind, but also when they are unjust. For it is grace when, through consciousness of God, one endures pain when suffering unfairly; but what honor is there when you endure punishment for doing wrong? But when you do good and suffer and endure it, there is grace with God. It was to this that you were called, because Christ also suffered, for your sake, leaving you his example so that you might follow in his footsteps. He did no wrong, nor was any treachery found in his utterance; he was reviled and did not revile in answer; he suffered and spoke no threats but gave himself up to him who judges justly; he took up our sins in his own body onto the cross, so that, dying for sins, we might live for righteousness. You were healed by his wound. For you were like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to your shepherd and the guardian of your souls.
So likewise you wives should be submissive to your husbands, so that, even if some husbands do not believe in the word, they may, even without the word, be won over by their wives' way of life as they observe how chastely you live out of respect for them. Yow beauty should not be the outward kind, in the arrangement of your hair or addition of gold ornaments or the clothes you wear, but the person hidden in the heart, in the incorruptibility of a peaceful and gentle spirit, which is greatly prized in the sight of God. It was thus that, long ago in the old days, the sainted women whose hopes were in God made themselves beautiful, by subordinating themselves to their husbands, as Sarah was submissive to Abraham. She called him lord; and you are her daughters, so long as you do good works and fear no threat. So likewise, you husbands, live with them understandingly, giving them due honor as to the weaker feminine vessel, and as heirs together to the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be stopped.
Finally, be, all of you, as one in your thoughts and feelings, full of brotherly love, compassionate, humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult but, on the contrary, give a blessing, because it was to this that you were called, to be the inheritors of a blessing. For if one desires to love life and look upon good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering treachery; and let him tum aside from evil and do good, and seek out peace and pursue it. Because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are for their prayer. But the face of the Lord is set against the doers of evil.
And who will do you harm if you are zealous for good? Yet even if you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear their terror and do not be shaken, but hallow the Lord Christ in your hearts, always ready to answer anyone who demands that you give a reason for the hope that is in you; but with gentleness and respect, with good conscience, so that those who attack your good life in Christ may be shamed in their slander. For if it is God's will that you suffer, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Since even Christ once died for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh and brought to life in the spirit; in which he went even to the spirits in prison and preached to them. They had been disobedient once when the patience of God waited for them, in the days of Noah when the ark was being built and in it few souls, eight that is, were saved in the flood. This flood as baptism, its antitype, saves you now. This is not a riddance from the filth of the body, but a plea to God for good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who went to heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subjected to him.
Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding, since he who suffers is relieved of his sinfulness, to live out his time in the flesh no longer by the desires of mankind but by the will of God. The time that has gone by has been enough to do the will of heathens, going the way of unchastity, desire, wine tippling, revelries, drinking parties, and disgraceful idolatry. Herein they are surprised if you do not rush to join them in the same excess of dissipation, and speak ill of you. They will have to answer for it to him who will presently judge the living and the dead. Since it was for this that the gospel was brought even to the dead, that they must be judged in the flesh like men but live in the spirit according to God.
The end of all things is at hand. Be temperate, then, and sober for your prayers. Above all, be constant in your love for each other, since love covers up a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to each other without grumbling; as you have individually been given a gift of grace, dispense it to each other like good stewards of the complex grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as if he were quoting the sayings of God; if he serves, as if from the strength which God assigns; so that God may be glorified among all, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the trial by fire which comes to you as if it were some strange thing that happened to you, but as you share in the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice so that in the revelation of his glory you may rejoice and be glad. If you are blamed in the n^e of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God comes to rest on you. None of you must suffer punishment for being a murderer or thief or malefactor, or as a troublemaker; but if he suffers for being a Christian, let him take no shame, but glorify God for this name. For it is time for the beginning of the judgment with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the end be for those who refuse to believe in the gospel of God? And if the righteous man is barely saved, where will the impious and sinful man be found? Thus even those who suffer by the will of God should, by doing good, entrust their souls to God, their good creator who is to be trusted.
11 To the elders among you, I, your fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of the Christ and sharer in the glory which is to be revealed, send this appeaclass="underline" Be shepherds to God's flock that is with you, not under constraint but willingly, not for shameful greed but freely; not as overlords of your charges but making yourselves models for the flock; and when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the unfading wreath of glory. In the same way, you younger men, be obedient to your elders. And all, gird yourselves with humility, because God is set against the proud and gives favor to the humble.